The Latest: Patriots say Gronkowski questionable to return

The Patriots say tight end Rob Gronkowski is questionable to return to the AFC championship because of a head injury.

Gronk was left wobbly on a hit from Jaguars safety Barry Church on a downfield pattern late in the first half. Gronkowski headed to the locker room and sat out the remainder of the first half.

He did not appear to be on the New England sideline when the second half began.

Earlier in the second quarter, Gronkowski caught a 21-yard pass that moved him past Dallas Clark for first on the NFL‘s all-time list for postseason receiving yards by a tight end, 848.

— Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts. ___

4:28 p.m.

Jacksonville has taken a 14-10 lead at halftime of the AFC championship.

The Jaguars were up 14-3 after an early touchdown pass from Blake Bortles to Marcedes Lewis and a run by Leonard Fournette.

Just before the half, Tom Brady led the Patriots on a six-play, 85-yard drive that included two Jacksonville penalties. The drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by James White .

Bortles completed 13 of 15 passes for 155 yards in the half. Brady was 12 of 17 for 124 yards.

The last three times the Patriots have trailed by double digits in a playoff game, they came back to win.

— Kyle Hightower, reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts ___

4:25 p.m.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is being looked at after a hard hit from Barry Church left him wobbly.

Gronkowski was running downfield on a passing route, looking back for the ball, when Church put a shoulder into him late in the second quarter. The 6-foot-6, 265-pound All-Pro tight end seemed shaken, and he left the field. He did not return for the remainder of the drive, which was New England’s last in the first half.

There was no immediate announcement from the team about his condition.

Church was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty that gave the Patriots the ball at their own 40. A pass interference penalty on the next play put New England on the 13. Two plays later, James White ran it in to make it 14-10.

Jacksonville was also called for a delay of game that negated a first-down completion on their previous possession. In all, the Jaguars the Jaguars had five penalties for 62 yards in the first half; the Patriots had one for 10 yards.

— Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts. ___

4 p.m.

Leonard Fournette has given the Jacksonville Jaguars a 14-3 lead over the heavily favored New England Patriots in the AFC championship game.

Fournette bulled his way into the end zone from 4 yards out midway through the second quarter . He carried the ball five times for 23 yards on the 10-play, 77-yard drive.

Fournette ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s divisional round playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is the first NFL rookie to surpass 100 yards rushing with three scores in a postseason game.

Fournette was limited in practice all week with a sore ankle. He was also involved in a fender-bender back in Jacksonville, but was not injured.

— Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts. ___

3:45 p.m.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have taken the lead early in the second quarter of the AFC title game.

Blake Bortles found Marcedes Lewis wide open in the end zone from 4 yards out to give the Jags a 7-3 lead. Bortles was 5 for 5 for 66 yards on the drive.

Running back Corey Grant caught two passes for 44 yards on the 76-yard drive. He had only 41 total receiving yards during the season.

Tom Brady’s only comeback wins in an AFC championship were from a four-point deficit against Baltimore after the 2011 season and a three-point deficit against San Diego after the ’07 season. The Patriots also rallied from a four-point hole against Miami en route to the 1986 Super Bowl.

— Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts. ___

3:20 p.m.

Tom Brady’s injured right hand looked fine on the Patriots’ opening drive in the AFC title game.

Brady was 6-for-6 for 57 yards on New England’s first possession against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He completed a 20-yarder to Danny Amendola on a fourth-and-1 to keep the drive going. But the Patriots settled for Stephen Gostkowski’s 31-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

Brady reportedly injured his right hand and needed stitches when it was hit by a teammate’s helmet in practice. The five-time Super Bowl champion took the field on Sunday with a piece of black tape on the back of his hand.

The Patriots are in the conference championship game for the seventh straight year. They are hoping to go to their eighth Super Bowl of the Brady era.

— Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts. ___

2:45 p.m.

New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft says the team needs to guard against “jealousy and envy” from people who are trying to tear apart one of the most successful dynasties in NFL history.

Speaking on the pregame show before the Patriots played the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC championship game, Kraft said it’s only natural there would be some tension between him and coach Bill Belichick after 18 years together. Kraft says, “But when you’ve got something good going, everyone’s got to get their egos checked in and try to hold it together.”

ESPN reported this month that Kraft essentially vetoed Belichick’s plan to set backup Jimmy Garoppolo up as the successor to five-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. Instead, the Patriots traded Garoppolo to San Francisco for a second-round draft pick.

— Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts. ___

2:35 p.m.

The Super Bowl matchup will be set after conference title games featuring three teams that have never won the big game.

The other participant is a five-time Super Bowl winner, the New England Patriots.

The Patriots and Tom Brady, nursing an injured right hand, start conference championship Sunday playing host to the Jacksonville Jaguars and quarterback Blake Bortles.

The night game with Minnesota playing at Philadelphia features two 29-year-old quarterbacks, Nick Foles and Case Keenum, both of whom started the season as backups.

Keenum played most of the season after Sam Bradford was injured, and Foles came in after star Carson Wentz was hurt in Week 14.